Makkos 11b

מכות י״א ע״ב

Makkot 11b

Learn Makkos 11b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A conditional נידוי learned from יהודה; then the laws of the עיר מקלט and how the כהן גדול's death, or his unfitness, ends the killer's exile.

Overview

רב teaches that a נידוי declared on a condition must still be formally undone, even if the condition never happens. The גמרא learns this from יהודה. His bones rattled in his coffin for forty years in the מדבר, even though he had brought בנימין back, until משה prayed for him. Each phrase of יהודה's ברכה fixed another problem. The גמרא then asks whether the accidental killer goes home only when all the listed כהנים גדולים die, or when just one does, and an attempted proof is pushed aside. A new משנה teaches that the timing of the כהן גדול's death decides the exile. It also says the killer may never leave the עיר מקלט, not even to testify or lead the army, and that the city's תחום protects him like the city itself. The גמרא explains these rules: a קל וחומר from אביי, a פסוק about the כהן גדול 'anointed in his days', and burial rules for a killer who dies. Finally, רבי אמי and רבי יצחק נפחא argue about a כהן גדול found to be unfit, and the גמרא suggests their argument matches that of רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע. That suggestion is tested on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (26)

1. StatementA conditional ban must be formally undone
2. QuestionWhat is the source?
3. ResponseThe source is יהודה's promise to יעקב
4. QuestionWhy is יהודה's ברכה placed next to ראובן's?
5. Proofיהודה's bones rattled until משה prayed
6. ProofEach phrase of the ברכה fixed another problem
7. QuestionDoes the killer go home at the death of all the כהנים גדולים, or of one?
8. ProofTrying to answer from the next משנה
9. RejectionThe case is when none of them exist
10. StatementWhen the timing of the כהן גדול's death matters
11. StatementHe may never leave, even for testimony or the army
12. StatementThe city's boundary protects like the city
13. StatementIf the killer steps outside the boundary
14. QuestionWhy is the killer not exiled if the כהן גדול died after the verdict?
15. Responseאביי's a fortiori argument
16. ChallengeMaybe exile itself is what atones
17. ResolutionThe כהן גדול's death is what atones
18. QuestionSource for a כהן גדול appointed before the verdict
19. Responseרב כהנא: the priest anointed in his days
20. ChallengeWhat could the new כהן גדול have done?
21. ResolutionHe should have prayed for a favorable verdict
22. StatementA killer who died before exile is buried in the עיר מקלט
23. StatementA killer who died in exile is later reburied with his ancestors
24. StatementTwo views when the כהן גדול turns out to be unfit
25. QuestionSuggesting the argument matches רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע
26. QuestionMatching each view to a תנא